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Restore the Fourth: Secure Your Privacy

On July 4 we held nationwide protests against unconstitutional NSA surveillance. Now it's time to move to Step 2, letting them know this isn't over.

Restore The Fourth

Politics

Washington, District of Columbia

United States

1 Team Member

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

- The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Restore the Fourth is a grassroots, non-partisan, non-violent movement that organized and assembled nationwide protests on July 4th, 2013. On Independence Day, tens of thousands of Americans of different political positions in over 50 cities protested in defense of the 4th amendment, particularly from the unconstitutional surveillance methods employed by the U.S. government, e.g. by the National Security Agency's PRISM program.

These demonstrations demanded an end to these unconstitutional surveillance methods and to ensure that all future government surveillance is constitutional, limited, and clearly defined.

But we always knew one day's protests wouldn't be enough. We've completed a very necessary Step One, and now it's on to Step Two.

How you will be helping us restore the fourth

We managed (miraculously in our opinion) to launch these protests entirely with volunteer help and with no financial assistance of any kind on the national level, aside from a few hundred dollars for social media ads that ran the day before and day of the protest. But we received so many unsolicited requests for information on how to donate that we were forced to think of how we could use these resources to help protect the 4th amendment, and we determined that was by taking this movement to the next level.

We seek to raise $10 000 with which to purchase the tools to create a long-term Restore the Fourth national organization to keep the fight going well passed the 4th of July. Where we have focused on advocacy this past week, we will turn much of our focus on taking the fight to the nation's courthouses and legislatures and other channels of lawful influence, with the intention of keeing it going until the 4th amendment is once again being respected by the US government.

We will convene this upcoming week (July 8th - 12th) with the leaders of our most successful and active local organizations to lay out a structure for a permanent organization dedicated to defending the 4th Amendment against unwarranted search of all kinds.

- Exploring more local spheres of influence such as town hall meetings.

- Political lobbying in defense of the 4th Amendment.

- Legal action in defense of the 4th Amendment.

Some examples of expenses we will incur...

- Paying for various basic tools required to operate, such as a P.O. box and dedicated press phone number.

- Website hosting and maintenence fees. On peak days our website traffic has reached levels worth $27 in server bandwidth fees, or a rate of $800 per month.

- Fees for legally registering our organization. Options we are considering include becoming a 501c3 or 501c4 non-profit.

- Accounting and legal help. While we do this with free tools or seek pro bono assistance to the extent that it's possible, we may need a modest level of paid help in these areas.

- Strategic, geographically-targeted online advertisements that increase attendance at protests and bring attention to the issue of unconstitutional surveillance.

- Local organizers of protests incur various fees including for permits and flyers/signs. While they currently do their own fundraising or pay out of pocket, we would like to provide assistance in the future when necessary and worthwhile.

"That sounds nice but there's a lot of good things to donate to. Why Restore the Fourth?"

- Restore the Fourth is run entirely by volunteers, and we expect to keep it that way for a long time, if not forever. None of your money will be going towards salaries, let alone six or seven figure salaries.

- Because we successfully ran an essentially-unfunded campaign, we know how to operate inexpensively, including how to find free or heavily discounted versions of many tools. That's why we only need $10 000 to launch. None of your money is going towards unnecessary extravagance. All of it is going towards the most useful things we could buy per dollar.

- Protest movements are known for being "co-opted" by partisans and special interest groups, especially when those partisans and special interest groups are the ones providing the cash. Successful community-centric fundraising like this will allow Restore the Fourth to remain independent and non-partisan while also enjoying the benefits of a legally registered organization with some cashflow.

"Who are you?"

Restore the Fourth's national organization is currently run by a board of six individuals from across North America that assist, coordinate, and promote our various local chapters. We are currently working on an "About Us" page and on expanding the board to include more of our most active and well-run local organizers on an official basis.

Currently our finances have been entrused with Andrea O'Neill, our representitive from the Washington chapter, while we wait to open a merchant account and to incorporate. You can contact Andrea O'Neill by emailing restorethe4thdc@gmail.com or by calling 540-993-8407.

Flexible FundingThis campaign has ended and will receive all funds raised.

Campaign Closed

This campaign ended on July 8, 2013

Select a Perk

$50USD

Official Donor Status

You will be listed on our website under the (to-be-created) "Donors" list under your name or an alias of your choosing, in order of the date of your donation. If you are a member of our reddit.com/r/restorethefourth subreddit you will receive special colored flair indicating that you are a donor.